“Not for fame or reward, not lured by ambition or goaded by necessity, but in simple obedience to duty.” --Inscription at Arlington Cemetary

"Each of these heroes stands in the unbroken line of patriots who have dared to die that freedom might live and grow and increase in its blessings." -- Franklin Delano Roosevelt

Friday, November 04, 2005

Army Spc. Timothy D. Brown

Remember Our Heroes

Army Spc. Timothy D. Brown, 23, of Cedar Springs, Mich.

Spc Brown was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 125th Infantry Regiment, Michigan Army National Guard, Saginaw, Mich.; killed Nov. 4, 2005 when a land mine detonated near his Humvee during combat operations in Habbaniyah, Iraq.

Spc. Timmy Brown, who grew up around Cedar Springs, always wanted to be a GI.By Tom Greenwood / The Detroit News

As a child, Tim Brown used to play soldier with his friends in the woods near his home. After the September 11 terrorist attacks, Brown decided to live his dream of becoming a soldier by joining the Michigan Army National Guard, where he served in the infantry.

On Friday, Spc. Brown, 23, was killed in Iraq by a roadside bomb that detonated near the Humvee in which he and four other members of Co. B, 125th Infantry, were riding near the town of Al Taqaddum.

Brown, who was known as Timmy by friends and family in Cedar Springs -- near Grand Rapids -- always wanted to be a soldier, said his aunt, Susan Metzger.

"Ever since he was a little kid, he knew he wanted to be a soldier," Metzger said. When he was a child he would dress up in fatigues and play war with his friends in the woods.

"He was over in Iraq doing his job. He used to e-mail his parents and tell them he was safe and sound because he didn't want them to worry. He told other members of the family about the horror of war, but he kept the bad stuff away from his parents. He's going to get a full military funeral, which he would have loved."

Metzger said Brown felt what he was doing was important.

"He felt that most of the people he saw in Iraq were glad they were there," Metzger said.

"He really loved the kids over there and liked helping them. He used to joke that everyone loved having the kids around because it meant nobody was going to shoot at them."

Brown -- who joined the Michigan Army National Guard in October 2003 after graduating from Cedar Springs High School -- had been scheduled for leave the war in October. But he stepped aside to allow another soldier -- who had a family -- to take his place instead, saying that the other soldier needed a break from the conflict more than he did.

Brown was an outdoorsman who loved hunting and camping, and soccer.

Tim was preceded in death by his grandfathers, Eldon Brown and Darwin L. Metzger. Surviving are his parents, Tim C. and Cindy (Metzger Tate) Brown; a sister, Stevie Brown; a nephew, Nathan Brown; grandparents, Helen Brown, John and Helen Tate all of Cedar Springs; many aunts, uncles and cousins.

Timothy D. Brown, aged 23, was killed while performing his military duties in hostile territory in the province of Abdalluyah, Iraq. Tim's goal in life was to be a professional soldier. When he was a child he would dress up in fatigues and play war with his friends in the woods. In 2003 he joined the National guard and in June of this year he was sent to Iraq. He was a graduate of Cedar Springs high school. Tim enjoyed soccer, hunting and was an outgoing person always funny and enjoyable to be with. He was trustworthy and dependable.